Marathon Oil (MRO) Stock Retreating as Oil Prices Slump

Marathon Oil (MRO) stock is falling along with oil prices today.
By Amanda Schiavo ,

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Marathon Oil (MRO) - Get Report are falling by 3.10% to $19.05 in early afternoon trading on Wednesday, as tumbling oil prices drive some energy and related stocks into the red today.

Weekly EIA inventory data out of the U.S. is pressuring prices, as it showed a greater than expected increase in crude stockpiles as well as a hike in production last week, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Crude oil (WTI) is down by 2.82% to $46.55 per barrel this afternoon and Brent crude is lower by 3.23% to $48.91 per barrel, according to the CNBC.com index.

Crude stockpiles grew by 2.8 million barrels last week, topping the 2.5 million barrel gain analysts were expecting.

Marathon Oil is a Houston-based oil and gas exploration and production company.

The EIA has estimated that crude oil production jumped by 48,000 barrels a day last week to 9.2 million barrels per day, the Journal noted.

Additionally, Marathon Oil will release its 2015 third quarter earnings results after the close of trading today. The company has been forecast by analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters to report a loss of 40 cents per share on revenue of $1.38 billion for the most recent quarter.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates MARATHON OIL CORP as a Sell with a ratings score of D+. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

We rate MARATHON OIL CORP (MRO) a SELL. This is driven by a number of negative factors, which we believe should have a greater impact than any strengths, and could make it more difficult for investors to achieve positive results compared to most of the stocks we cover. The company's weaknesses can be seen in multiple areas, such as its deteriorating net income, disappointing return on equity, weak operating cash flow, generally disappointing historical performance in the stock itself and feeble growth in its earnings per share.

Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows:

  • The company, on the basis of change in net income from the same quarter one year ago, has significantly underperformed when compared to that of the S&P 500 and the Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels industry. The net income has significantly decreased by 171.5% when compared to the same quarter one year ago, falling from $540.00 million to -$386.00 million.
  • Current return on equity is lower than its ROE from the same quarter one year prior. This is a clear sign of weakness within the company. Compared to other companies in the Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels industry and the overall market, MARATHON OIL CORP's return on equity significantly trails that of both the industry average and the S&P 500.
  • Net operating cash flow has significantly decreased to $408.00 million or 62.50% when compared to the same quarter last year. In addition, when comparing the cash generation rate to the industry average, the firm's growth is significantly lower.
  • Despite any intermediate fluctuations, we have only bad news to report on this stock's performance over the last year: it has tumbled by 48.96%, worse than the S&P 500's performance. Consistent with the plunge in the stock price, the company's earnings per share are down 207.54% compared to the year-earlier quarter. Naturally, the overall market trend is bound to be a significant factor. However, in one sense, the stock's sharp decline last year is a positive for future investors, making it cheaper (in proportion to its earnings over the past year) than most other stocks in its industry. But due to other concerns, we feel the stock is still not a good buy right now.
  • MARATHON OIL CORP has experienced a steep decline in earnings per share in the most recent quarter in comparison to its performance from the same quarter a year ago. This company has reported somewhat volatile earnings recently. We feel it is likely to report a decline in earnings in the coming year. During the past fiscal year, MARATHON OIL CORP increased its bottom line by earning $1.41 versus $1.32 in the prior year. For the next year, the market is expecting a contraction of 199.3% in earnings (-$1.40 versus $1.41).
  • You can view the full analysis from the report here: MRO

Any reference to TheStreet Ratings and its underlying recommendation does not reflect the opinion of Jim Cramer, TheStreet or any of its contributors.

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